PITTSBURGH — Jason Grilli has had an uneven season but the closer still has the confidence of Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.
Grilli is 0-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 19 games this season and has converted 11 of 13 save opportunities. The 37-year-old also spent a more than a month on the disabled list from April 21-May 23 with a strained left oblique.
He became an overnight sensation while saving 33 games, being selected to his first All-Star Game and helped the Pirates both have their first winning season and make their first postseason since 1992.
Grilli has hit a rough patch in the last week.
Tuesday night, he gave up the game-winning home run to Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier in the ninth inning. Grilli also retired just one of the six batters he faced last Friday against the Marlins at Miami and was removed in the ninth inning with the lead as set-up man Mark Melancon finished for the save.
“I don’t think there’s a heightened uneasiness for me by any means,” Hurdle said. “We’ve got a couple guys out there that are going through some challenging times right now. Sometimes I think it bodes well to give players an opportunity to push through some challenging times rather than to run to their aid or in an overreaction, we need to make a change right now.”